1、,GCSE Modern Foreign LanguagesDictionary Skills lesson,For your GCSE coursework it is essential to be able to use a dictionary well (and so be a good independent learner in MFL )by:-,Why dictionary skills?,.knowing the different types of words which make up sentences (verb/ noun/ adjective) .having
2、the skill to identify/select the correct word(s) from a dictionary using the grammatical information in dictionaries successfully to your advantage,Masculine el / unFeminine la / una,You need to learn the different words for the/a masculine, feminine, neutral,Masculine le/ un Feminine la / une,What
3、is a noun ?,A noun is an object or a thing, which can usually be preceded by a or the in English. E.g. Dog, Table, Bottle. Bear in mind that in the language you are studying, the word for a/the depends on the gender.,You can recognise these in a dictionary by the letter n.and in most dictionaries a
4、m / f (/n) will tell you if its gender,Remember that the noun you find in the dictionary is for just one. If you want 2, then look for the brackets to show you how to make the plural,un gato negro mi hermana es alta Las matemticas son interesantes,.einen roten Mantel .eine braune Katze . ein altes L
5、aptop,Jai un crayon noir Jai une rgle bleue Jai les yeux verts,What is an adjective?,An adjective is a word which describes a noun. E.g. A short story, the friendly doctor, the wooden table. Remember, in a foreign language, you may have to change the endings depending on the gender of a word.,You ca
6、n recognise these in a dictionary by the letters adj.,Most verbs in Spanish end in er / ir / ar e.g. hablar, comer, sentir,Most verbs in German end in en e.g. haben, spielen, machen,Most verbs in French (infinitive) end in er/ir/re e.g. regarder, finir, rpondre.,What is a verb?,A verb is a doing or
7、action word. E.g. do, went, will, to eat. Verbs that are in the main section of the dictionary are in the infinitive (in the form “to drink”/”to sing”) so if you find a verb in the Foreign Language, you will probably have to change the verb using the endings you have learnt in class.,You can recogni
8、se these in a dictionary by the letters v/ vt / vi.,Tip many adverbs in Spanish end in -mente,Tip many adverbs in German end in lich,Tip many adverbs in French end in -ment,What is an adverb?,An adverb is something that complements a verb, giving details about how the action was done. E.g. slowly, p
9、unctually,You can recognise these in a dictionary by the letters adv,Use your dictionary to find the German/ French/ Spanish for:,Birds Table Girls Posters Brothers,The essentialsUse your common sense if a word feels wrong, it possibly is. If in doubt, look the word up in the opposite section of the
10、 dictionary.Read carefully the information from the dictionary about the type of word it is. (Particularly important if you are looking up a word which could be used in two ways). If a word has two or more unrelated meanings (e.g. Bat), the dictionary will generally have two separate entries for it.
11、 Always read the examples given under the entry you may find something useful.If in doubt about plurals, the German/French/Spanish English section of the dictionary (front section generally) will give this information so find your word there. Remember that most of the time, you will not be able to u
12、se the F/G/S verb as it is in the dictionary it will need conjugating,BAD DICTIONARY SKILLS (A GERMAN EXAMPLE)Fred wanted to write in his coursework, “Overall, it was a good film”. He found the word “Arbeitshose” (which means overalls clothes to wear for work). This couldve been avoided by:-Fred loo
13、king at the word carefully realising that Arbeit means “work” and Hose meaning “trousers” or suspecting that it might mean “overall” and double checking in the other section of the dictionaryhe couldve looked for a second time and realised that he was looking at “overalls” not “overall”.he should ha
14、ve realised that he wanted an adverb for his sentence not a noun.,Possibly the most useful thing about the grammar section of the dictionary are the verb tables. In some dictionaries, there is a list of verbs giving the page reference to look for. Present Indicative actions which you are doing/or do
15、 regularlyImperfect actions which used to happen / things which set the scene (in the past)Perfect actions which are completed /which can be translated by “I have done/played” in English. The past participle is the eaten / done / playedFuture actions which you are going to do in the future / which w
16、ill happen in the futureConditional things which would happen if something else occurs e.g. I would go to the dentist if I had toothache.,Verb Tables,Use your dictionary to find the word for:,to help help (support) match (to light a fire) match (football/tennis) bat (cricket/rounders) to fly to book (holiday),
